Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-09, страница 65

A closer look reveals exceptional fitting (and it is the same all the way around the bowl). If you have ever tried a marquetry project, you understand the amount of labor required to produce high quality work. As a result of this. Steve has dropped the really intense patterns, but still does special-order Judaica projects that are personalized for the customer.

Steve does not import kit-type components and assemble them; rather, everything is made from scratch by Steve and his one helper (and that includes the design and all production techniques). lie relies on several wood suppliers and keeps a wide selection of domestic as well as exotic woods and veneers on hand; however, it is hardware sources that often pose quite a challenge. Hardware pricing and availability are constantly changing. Once Steve starts selling a product and it is successful, the last thing he needs is for a piece of specialty hardware to have a significant price increase, or worse yet, become unavailable.

Steve currently relies on a variety of boxes that can be made for any purpose, such as jewelry, humidors, and memory boxes

His boxes are made in a number of configurations, including the book style shown here.

When he was asked what the market is like at this point, Sieve responded that it is starling to come back due to the improvement in the economy, but he is experiencing a growing problem with foreign knockoffs. Once he builds a successful product, be will often see imported copies of it much faster than ever before. Where they did not appear for at least a season in the past, they are now showing up within a show or iwo. Because Ihey are imported, copyright violations are very-expensive to pursue, so this has become a genuine concern for Steve.

Now let's have a look at his shop!

For questions concerning this article, send on SASE to: Steve Levine. P.O. Box 123. Davton, NJ08810. Email: SBLWood@aol.com ^

fit • Creative Woodworks S. Crafts September 2004